SIII Hellhounds
by Spartan-L082
Summary: Follow the Limbda generation of Spartan-III as they wage a desperate war against the Covenant. Please R&R any criticizm is welcome. Ch9 is up
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

9 February 2553 Military Calendar

Aboard the UNSC Pint of No Return

Colonel John Zakaev

Colonel Zakaev wiped the sweat that was accumulating on his forehead. He let out a quiet laugh.

_Am I nervous?_ He thought. Zakaev had fought in an ONI Section Three black ops team in ten major battles with the Covenant, received multiple medals, and he had even been promoted to Colonel a month ago; he had also been injured in four of those engagements. He ran his fingers across the plasma burn on his head, during the last battle a plasma rifle bolt had struck Zakaev's helmet, and partially melted to his head. The memories from a month spent in rehabilitation clinics.

The door to "the cage" slid apart and brought Zakaev back to the present. Three high ranking ONI officials walked into the room; Captain Gibson, Rear Admiral Rich, and Vice Admiral Parangosky. Zakaev had worked for Gibson and nodded to the captain. Gibson acknowledged him with a loud grunt, he was clearly not happy to be here. As the Vice Admiral sat down three clicks echoed throughout the room, they were now isolated from the rest of the universe. They sat in utter silence for what felt like an eternity, until the Vice Admiral broke the silence.

"Colonel John Zakaev, do you know why you were brought here," She asked.

Zakaev shook his head. "Ma'am I haven't the foggiest idea, hopefully to kill some Covenant, and not to do paperwork." He hated paperwork almost as much as the Covenant, and it kept him out of the fight for almost as long as the Covies have.

The Vice Admiral slid a document across the table to him.

"What do you know about the late Colonel Ackerson," she inquired.

He skimmed through the files contained in the document. He hesitated before he asked. "Ma'am permission to speak freely?"

"Permission granted Colonel," she said.

"The man had a great military record," he continued. "But he was a backstabbing jack ass."

The Rear Admiral downed a shot from the flask of cheap whiskey that he carried. "You got that right," he growled.

Zakaev flipped to the next page on the document, his mouth fell open at what was in front of him. He looked to the others to see if this information was true. The Vice Admiral wore an ominous grin.

"These numbers are incredible," he exclaimed. "A company taking on thousands of hostiles, it's almost as if the soldiers were…"

"Spartans," the Vice Admiral finished the sentence for him. "The documents you are looking at contain information on the Spartan-III program."

"I didn't know there was another Spartan program," he said. That's when it sank in, the secret meeting, questions about Ackerson, and his recent promotion.

He was being interviewed for a job.

"Why haven't I seen or heard of these so called Spartan-III's," he asked. "It's impossible to keep one Spartan out of the news, let alone a whole company of them."

"We kept the number of people that knew to the absolute minimum," the Rear Admiral explained. "We secretly rerouted funds from other programs, moving personnel through the back channels. Typical stuff if you're setting up a black op."

"Basically we went to great lengths to keep this a secret," Gibson said.

"How many companies have been trained," he said.

"Only three," Parangosky said. "And Gamma Company is the only survivor of the three."

Something didn't add up. "Why only three?"

Parangosky pointed at the documents. "Scroll to the next page."

Zakaev tabbed ahead. "Holy shit," he muttered under his breath. "You been sending them on suicide mission, and then the Covenant found your training facility."

"The information on that is top secret, and irrelevant to this meeting," Parangosky said. "The point is this; we're looking to start the program back up again. Are you interested in a job?"

She had finally dropped the bombshell on Zakaev.

He thought long and hard about what he would say. "What would this job entail me to do?"

"First select a new trainer to teach the next generation of Spartan-III," Gibson said. "You'll have to settle for a Spartan-III, we can't pull another Spartan off the lines. You will also manage the operations they undertake."

Zakaev listened intently as Gibson laid out the details of training the Spartan-III's. After Gibson had finished his end, the Rear Admiral spoke up.

"You'll have all the equipment you should ever need for this operation," the Rear Admiral said. "And because of the attack on our last training facility, defensive measures will be taken."

"Where would you put the training facility," Zakaev asked. "A military base?"

"No, too many people to worry about," the Rear Admiral said. "And the paperwork required moving all the non-essential personnel would take months."

Zakaev decided to try again. "How about using a dead outer colony? The only thing you have to worry about out there is slavers, traders, and a random Covenant patrol."

The Vice Admiral shook her head.

"Where else could there be," he wondered.

Parangosky tapped in several commands into the table, and a second later a brown sphere appeared in the center of the table.

"Am I going crazy or is that a ball of shit," Zakaev joked.

Parangosky ignored the comment and pressed on. "Planet T-158B," she said. "We tried to make the planet into a weapons testing facility, but was abandoned after several _accidents. _Swampy terrain makes ground assaults almost impossible, especially since the training facility will occupy most of the dry land."

He studied the planet for several minutes before finally speaking. "It's the perfect place to train the ultimate super soldiers," he said. "When do I start the selection process?"

The Vice Admiral grinned again. "Immediately," she told him. "The trainer candidates are on the last page of that file. Just remember the list is short, so pick wisely."

She rose from her chair. "Gentlemen the conversation we just had never leaves this room, understood."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Before Gibson went with the others, he went to Zakaevs end of the table and held out a hand. Zakaev shook the captains' hand, and then waited for him to leave.

He sat back down and skipped to the last page of the document. Out of the 300 potential candidates of Gamma Company, Parangosky only gave him three choices. After reading each profile several times, he made his decision; he selected Sonya-G032 to lead the training program. The Spartan had lost her left arm due to severe plasma burns, and had it replaced with a prosthetic limb so she could stay in the fight with her fellow Spartans.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1- The beginning

30 February 2553

Sonya-G032 stood in her Semi-Powered Information or SPI armor, and watched as 500 children used the parade field as ammunition for a mud fight. A ball of mud sailed through the air and covered her faceplate. Several kids snickered as she wiped the mud from helmet.

"Pondering," she yelled.

A holo projector hummed and displayed the smart A.I. Pondering Mind's avatar. The avatar was of a marine with a prosthetic arm and a cigar in its mouth.

"You don't have to yell," it said. "I can hear you just fine."

"Get their attention," she demanded. "Before I shoot one."

The avatar disappeared and played a video of an atomic bomb going off. The children immediately stopped throwing mud and payed attention.

"Thank you," she said. She linked her helmets COM unit to the bases PA system. "My name is Lieutenant Sonya-G032, I am a Spartan," she said. "And you each share one thing with the child next to you, loss."

She scanned the crowd for any signs of weakness.

"I'm talking about losing people you loved," she continued. "And now I'm offering you a chance at revenge, a chance to kill the alien bastards that made all of us into orphans."

Several of the children started to cry at the mention of their loved ones, others eyes burned with hatred.

"However, we can't accept all of you," she said. "100 of you won't make it past today's test."

The kids exchanged confused glances. Several of them whispered, "What test?"

She nodded to the awaiting drill instructors. They passed out a map of the area to each child.

"On your map is a point that you must reach," she said. "If you are among the first 400 then you will have earned the chance become a Spartan."

She nodded once more; the A.I. replaced his avatar with a stoplight. It began to count down.

"I will be watching you," she said. The light turned green. "Go!"

All but three of the children immediately dashed into the swamp. She scowled at the three washouts.

"You three," she said." Get out of my sight."

She waited until they were escorted off the parade field by a DI, then she turned her attention to the nine dozen DI's under her command.

"Go," she ordered. "Root out the weak ones."

The instructors brandished electric tipped stun batons and raced into the swamp after the children.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch2 Murky Waters

30 February 2553 Military Calendar

Dante-L382

I rechecked my map, again. In the last hour I had barely covered any ground, mostly due to the mud that was up to my ankles. I continued to struggle to move and wondered what that lady had meant when she said, "If you survive." Someone screamed off in the distance and caused me to lose my balance. I plunged into the disgusting water and took in a mouthful of the stuff. As I picked myself up I coughed up the contents of my stomach, which was mostly the swamp water.

"That stuff tastes about as good as it looks," I thought to myself.

A second, much closer scream nearly caused me to take another swim in the water. My curiosity was peaked and I decided to find the screams origin. As I moved forward the screams increased in volume, and intensity. I looked around a tree and almost burst out laughing. A girl had literally been chased up a tree by a drill instructor. She was out of the man's reach, but that didn't stop the man from trying to hit the girl with his stun baton. I crept forward as stealth fully as I could, while waiving my arms to get the girls attention. She winked to show that she actually saw me, but didn't turn her head to acknowledge that I was there. I quickly formulated a plan in my head and crept up behind the man. I counted down from three with my fingers.

On one I lunged for the man's legs. He stumbled forward but didn't fall; instead he raised the stun baton. I closed my eyes and prepared for an extreme amount of pain. The pain never came, instead I suddenly felt very heavy. The girl had actually jumped from the tree and drop kicked the man in the face; he had fallen on top of me. I eventually pushed the body out from on top of me. I took in a big gulp of fresh air and looked around for the girl. She was walking away in the opposite direction I had come from. I ran after her.

"Hey wait up," I yelled.

The girl stopped and waited until I caught up with her. We walked in silence for what seemed like an eternity. _It's too quiet._

"My name is Dante," I said. "What's yours?"

She remained silent.

"Oh come on, the least you could do is introduce yourself, since I did save your butt back there." I said.

She let out a quiet laugh. "No you didn't. That guy was going to beat the crap out of you," she joked.

I smiled. "Ah, the quiet girl speaks," I remarked. "Well does my savior have a name?"

She returned the smile. "It's Whitney," she said. "My name is Whitney."

"Nice to meet you Whitney," I said.

"The same goes for you Dante."

During the next hour and a half we told each other about where we had come from. She learned that I was from the mining planet Charon, and how it had five month cycles of complete darkness. I told her about how all the mining released minerals into the air, changing the color of the inhabitants' eyes different shades of red. The tone of red depended on age and exposure and age. My eyes are a light crimson. I also told her about the rite of adulthood that I was too young for. I learned that her father was a farmer on the planet Harvest, and that she was a tomboy at heart. We were both eight years old and made orphans by the Covenant.

We continued to evade the drill instructors patrols until we reached a large clearing marked by flares. In the center was the lady that had started this whole thing.

_How did she get here so fast?_

Whitney gave me a light shove. "Come on we're almost there."

She took hold of my hand and led me onto the dry land. Physically exhausted, we collapsed in front of the Lieutenant Colonel.

"On your feet," the Lt ordered."Now."

We reluctantly rose, and were forced to stand at attention while Sonya consulted her clip board.

"Recruits Whitney-L377 and Dante-L382," she read. "You have been assigned to Team Lance, along with recruits L109 and L038. Follow Staff Sergeant Wilson o your barracks."

As Wilson led us through the base, Whitney leaned in close to me. "That's the guy that chased me up a tree," she whispered.

I couldn't tell for sure, so I asked her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm positive."

Wilson led us to V barracks and opened the door. He spoke with a heavy Irish accent. "This is where you'll be living, you little shit," he said. "Get as much sleep s you can, because tomorrow is your first day in hell."

"Hey Wilson, let me know how that nose heals up," Whitney joked.

He scowled at her and pushed us inside. He slammed the door behind me. I noticed a boy and girl approaching from the opposite end of the barracks. The boy had blonde hair, brown eyes, and looked about the same age as me. The girl had red hair that went down to her shoulders, green eyes, and looked older than me.

"Hi my name is Ben," the boy said. I noticed that he was missing his two front teeth. "And this quiet thing is Lisa."

Lisa didn't say anything to either me or Whitney.

"I'm Dante and this is Whitney."

We started to tell each other about where we were from, when the door to the barracks opened. Wilson threw a young Hispanic kid into the room.

Blood was oozed from Wilson's ear. "Little piece of shit bit me!" Wilson barked. "You're going to get it tomorrow." He stormed off to the med bay.

The kid picked himself up and dusted himself off. He made his way to our end of the barracks.

"Hi, I'm Ben," Ben said. "What's your name?"

The boy ignored Ben and stared directly at me. "Why are your eyes red," he asked.

I told him the story about my eyes, but I could tell he didn't care.

"The name is Rex," he said. "And I don't care about your pasts, but what I do care about is sleeping."

He brushed past Ben and jumped onto the top bunk of the nearest bed and quickly got under the covers.

"Anyone interrupts my sleep dies," Rex stated.

We waited until we could hear Rex's snores before we finished introducing ourselves. After dealing with the formalities, each of us picked a bunk to sleep in. I chose the one above Whitney's bunk. I laid my head down and thought about the recent events; being abducted from an orphanage, taken to this strange planet and told that I would be trained to fight in the war. I recalled what that woman had mentioned earlier that we would have a chance at revenge for the murder of our parents. One thing was for sure, I would take that chance and make as many of those Covenant bastards pay for the atrocities that they've commited.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4 Snag

13 October 2553 Military Calendar

I stared at the spot my disassembled SRS99D S-III custom sniper rifle was, hands outstretched. The timer on my HUD read one, and I went through the now rhythmic process of reassembling the rifle for the fifth time. I pulled the bolt back, causing the timer to stop. The whole thing had taken three point seven seconds. I depolarized my helmet and examined my tool of destruction. The match between me and the rifle had been love at first sight, the Oracle N-variant scope and 14.5 mm round it fired had attracted me to it.

I set the rifle to the side, let out a loud sigh, and then laid down on the pelican's floor. My hand brushed against something, causing the object to start rolling away. In the moment it took me to realize what the object was I heard it fall into the water.

I had just knocked Whitney's helmet into the swampy water. _Oh crap. _She was on me in a split second.

"Do you know where my helmet went," she asked. "Cause I can't find it."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. "Your helmet, yeah you see that's a funny story," I answered. "I think it may have fallen into the water."

She let out an irritated sigh. "Stand up Dante."

I hesitantly stood and turned to face her, she showed no emotion on her face.

_I'm so fucked._

"Do you mean that water," she pointed at the murky water. I nodded. "Well then guess what you get to go do for me?"

"Sit here and look good," I joked.

She shook her head. "You get to go in there and get it," she said. Before I could argue, she shoved me backwards, and out the rear hatch into the water.

I broke the surface and had to fight to keep my water logged armor from taking me under.

"You're not getting back on this ship until you find my helmet," Whitney said. "So start searching for it."

"You could have at least let me take off my armor before you pushed me in," I yelled.

"And ruin the fun," she said. "Take off your gear and hand it to me."

I stripped down to my boxers and handed her the rest. I took in a chest full of air and dove under the murky water, and began to search the bottom for the missing helmet. A minute in, my hand found a non-organic object. I put both hands on the helmet and pulled, but it had become entangled in a bunch of roots.

After another minute my lungs burned from a lack of oxygen. I pushed off from the bottom, but felt something tug on my right ankle. My foot had become snagged in the roots alongside the helmet. I struggled to get my foot out of the mess, but to no avail. Darkness moved into the edges of my vision.

_So this is how it's going to end for me? Man this sucks,"_ I thought, and then blacked out.

Whitney's clenched fist slammed into my stomach. I immediately winced in pain and coughed up the water in my lungs, and my breakfast. After I stopped coughing up water by the mouthful, I managed to sit up. She patted me on the back to help clear any residual water out of my lungs.

"How did you pull me out," I asked between the occasional cough. "You're completely dry."

"What no thank you?" she smirked. "Fine I'll let you drown next time."

"Ok thank you Whitney," I said. "Now how did you rescue me?"

She grinned. "I hauled you up by your dog tags. It's a miracle the chain didn't break."

"Well the good news is that I'm alive,' I said. "And I found your helmet."

She took it and placed it on her head. She linked her COM unit to the pilot's.

"Go ahead and take off," she ordered.

I felt the floor vibrate as the pelican lifted off the ground and headed towards our next destination.

As we rose higher and higher into the air Whitney held out my shirt. "You should get dressed," she said. "Getting hit by a stun round would ruin your already fucked up day."

I nodded in agreement and began to put my armor back on. Two minutes later I was suited up and stared out the rear hatch at the setting sun. The pelican hovered over the soon to be battlefield. Whitney and I adjusted the straps on our Falcon Wing aerial descent packs. Whitney was holding onto my helmet and when I went to get it back, she looked at the setting sun.

_Oh shit. _"Whitney don't do it," I begged.

She looked back at me, grinned from ear to ear, and threw my helmet out the rear hatch. I glanced from her, to the hatch, and then back at her.

"Shit," I moaned before I leapt after my helmet.

I tucked my arms in closer to my body to go as fast as I could. After falling for what felt like forever, I spotted my helmet directly below me. After another second I reached out and grabbed it with both hands. I jammed it on my head, read the altimeter on the HUD, and then pulled the release cord to my parachute. The parachute unraveled and blossomed in the air, causing my body to jerk violently from the deceleration. I saw a ridge that was raised up off the ground by several feet, and steered my parachute towards it.

"Land on that ridge below us," I told Whitney on our private COM channel. She gave me a green light on my HUD.

I hit the ground, hard and rolled to absorb most of the impact. I heard a thud behind me and turned to see Whitney. We quickly gathered up the chutes and shoved them back into the packs. I grabbed my sniper rifle and inserted one my only two magazines. I immediately scanned the ridge for any hostiles. Satisfied that the ridge was clear, I gave Whitney a thumbs up.

She opened a COM channel to Ben. "Ben this is Whitney we're in position."

"Understood," Ben replied. "Get to work; the plan has gone up in flames."

I shared a worried glance with Whitney. "Roger," she killed the link.

I moved up towards the ridge, first at a low crouch, but then went prone for the rest of the way. I glanced to my right, Whitney had moved right next to me. I sighted through my Oracle scope, while Whitney looked through a pair of high powered binoculars. Just from a glance, I could tell that the plan had already gone to shit.

The original plan was for Lisa to act as a scout. She was then supposed to entice the other teams into following her to Rex and Ben's position, they would then supposed to open up on the other teams with the warthog. Whitney and I would then sweep in behind them and cause nine kinds of hell. The opposition force had a completely different plan for us. As soon as Lisa had opened fire the two stealthiest teams, Reaper and Viper had moved in to cut off her escape route.

I opened fire on Team Viper, since they were closer to Lisa's position. I watched as the stun round smacked into the head of three targets, they immediately lost consciousness and would wake up with a killer headache. I put the crosshairs on the last member of Viper and recognized the target, Miller-L229 from the way he moved. I pulled the trigger at the exact same moment he dove for cover; the round impacted the ground with an unsatisfying thump.

"Shit," I said. I went through the rhythmic process of ejecting the spent mag and then inserting a fresh one, my last one.

Whitney had been looking at other enemy positions, but quickly moved her gaze towards the direction I had been firing. "What," she asked. "Did they get to Lisa?"

I shook my head. "No," I said flatly. "I missed a target."

"Don't worry about it," she reassured me. "You can't get them all."

She punched me in the shoulder. I looked at her and smiled; she got the message.

Before I could say anything, Lisa screamed into her COM unit. "I'm hit!"

"Lisa hold on," Ben told her. "Rex and me are on our way."

He switched to a private channel with me. "Cerberus hold them off till I can get there."

I let out a loud laugh. "How do you expect me to hold off three hundred plus hostiles, with only four bullets?"

"Dammit you find a way," Ben screamed. "Pin them down, bark, or throw yourself at them! Just hold them off for ninety seconds!"

"I'll see what I can do," I killed the link.

Author's note: How do you like the story so far? Let me know if anything doesn't make sense, so I can try and tell you. If you have any mild criticisms then send it my way. K bye =]


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5 Loud Bark

13 October 2553

After doing some recon of the enemy positions, and then relaying it to Ben; I spotted Jack-L407 scanning the area for me. Miller must've told Jack about what happened to his team. I put the crosshairs on Jack's head and squeezed the trigger. Jack's head snapped back, and then his body went limp and he fell backwards.

"Shit," Whitney said. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Lisa's last known position. "Their moving in, Lisa's going to get overwhelmed."

"Ok fuck this," I said. I got up from my prone position.

"What the hell are you doing," Whitney asked.

I took several steps back from the edge and kneeled down like a track star waiting for the gun to go off. "Remember what Ben suggested?"

Before she could answer, I took in a deep breath and then raced toward the edge. All she could say as I leaped off the edge, barking the whole time was. "You're a dumb ass."

As I sailed through the air I noticed Roy-L057 standing there too shocked to bring his rifle up. I leveled my rifle and put two in his chest. As his body crumpled to the ground I rolled, and then immediately sighted my next target. They had their back to me and I fired almost point blank into the back of their head. The person next to my last victim however was unscathed and now very pissed. They started to bring their rifle up. _Oh shit. _Whitney's shotgun coughed once and sprayed the enemy with stun pellets.

"Thanks," I said.

She brushed past me and went to one of the limp bodies and relieved it of an assault rifle and ammo. She walked back over to me and then got right in my face.

"If we lose because of your bullshit," she shoved the rifle into my hands. "Then I will never speak to you again. And you'll need this, unless you're confident enough to use a gun with no ammo."

I nodded, and then went to Jack's limp form; since he was out of the fight and wouldn't need his ammo, I took it all. I heard the satisfying click of a fresh magazine in my rifle.

I turned to face her. "Never hurts to be prepared," I told her. "Now let's go save the day."

She nodded and we took off in silence. We weaved our way through the opposing sides' lines. We thinned their numbers by shooting anyone that paid any attention to us. As we got closer to Lisa's last known position, the gunfire increased and we were forced to move more slowly.

I crouched behind a tree and observed the battlefield. "One thing's for sure," I said. "Lisa is outing up one hell of a fight."

Whitney was busy covering my six and hadn't seen the six bodies in front of the entrance to the large, hollow tree that Lisa was taking refuge in. She turned to look and saw someone had a clear shot into the entrance at Lisa.

"They've got her in the crosshairs," she yelled.

I looked from Lisa's position to where Whitney was pointing, she was right.

"The hell he does," I growled. I ran towards the attacker, who happened to be Miller-L229.

I opened an unsecure COM channel. Hey Miller," I yelled. I brought my boot up and then drilled him in the back of the foot; I sprayed him with my assault rifle for the fun of it. "That's for making me miss!"

Whitney came up behind me and gave me a pat on the back. I moved my hand in a series of quick gestures, telling her to move up while I covered her. She placed two fingers over her faceplate, the age old Spartan signal for a smile. She disappeared into the shadows, and I hid in a section of tall grass. Lisa had taken out Team Reaper and two other hostiles that had tried to rush her position.

Three hostiles were moving around the side of the tree towards the entrance, each had a grenade in one hand. I waited until one of them pulled the pin to their grenade, and then fire. It detonated before they could move, taking out three birds with one explosive stone.

I scored another three head shots before they got smart, and took cover to rethink their strategy. I gave Whitney a green light to move Lisa.

The sound of a warthog engine and its chain gun grew louder every second. Rex sent the rear end of the hog swerving as he drove it into a clearing that was wide enough to maneuver. Ben laid down what seemed like a never ending supply of covering fire into the surrounding area.

"Rex go get Lisa," Ben ordered his voice barely audible over the gun. "We're pulling her out of here, now!"

Rex jumped out of the driver's seat and ran to Lisa's position. I did my best to add to the suppressive fire, but bullets still peppered the dirt near his feet. He slid, feet first into the tree that the girls were using for cover.

"What took you so long," Lisa demanded.

Rex shrugged. "Ben wanted to take the scenic route," he joked. Lisa glared at him.

"Can we hurry this up?" Whitney interrupted. "Preferably before a rocket flies through here and takes out all three of us."

"Fine," Rex conceded. "Lisa are you able to walk?"

She nodded and began to rise. An explosion rocked the tree.

"What the fuck was that, Bigfoot," Rex asked.

Whitney sat in silence for a few seconds, and then smacked the back of his helmet. "Remember those rockets I was talking about? Well they're using them now."

"Would you three hurry the fuck up," Ben yelled. "Cause those rockets Whitney just mentioned are getting close to hitting me. And they already rushed me twice, and I don't want third time to be the charm. "

I had been listening in on the conversation and couldn't hold it in any longer. I busted out laughing. Whitney blinked her red light twice, our way of saying up yours. Rex and Lisa dashed for the warthog, and when they got there Rex helped her into the passenger seat before getting into the driver's seat. Ben hosed down another rocket team before they could fire.

"I'm on my way, cover me," Whitney said.

"Cover you," Rex joked. "What do you think we've been doing, playing cards?"

She ignored him and ran for it. A hostile materialized behind her and had her in their sights.

"Whitney behind you," Lisa yelled. She couldn't fire without hitting Whitney.

Whitney had started to turn around, when I fired. The round grazed her helmet, and then hit the enemy square in the chest.

"Thanks Dante," she said. She made it the rest of the way to the hog, protected by the constant bark of my rifle. She jumped into the back, next to Ben.

"Everyone is here but you Cerberus," Ben said. "Get your ass over here."

"I'm on the move," I told the team and rose from the tall grass. As I moved to the vehicle I sprayed the rest of my assault rifle into group of hostiles. I was feet away from the hog, the unthinkable happened; several dozen hostiles decided to rush my team.

I took down entire teams with my assault rifle using one clip. After five minutes of non-stop fire the flow of hostiles started to decrease. Another minute and the attack stalled and died out.

"Is that all of them," Rex asked no one in particular. "Did we win?"

"No there are more of them out there Recruit-L121. But the other teams have lost any form of team cohesion, forcing me to end this test," a voice from nowhere said. "So yes you did win this time."

El Tee materialized directly in front of them, wearing her SPI v.3 armor. My team snapped to attention and saluted. She returned our salutes.

"Return to your barracks until I call for you," she ordered. "I've got to oversee the cleanup of this mess."

We stepped over the bodies of our unconscious brethren. I whispered to the rest of the team. "We sure showed her."

"I heard that Dante," El Tee yelled. "Do you want to clean the latrines?"

"No ma'am," I answered.

"Then shut up and keep walking."

"Understood ma'am."

It had been four hours since we made it back to base. Whitney and I were sleeping, Ben and Rex compared kills, and Lisa studied for a test. The PA system screeched and then came to life.

"All teams to the parade field.

Lisa let out an exaggerated sigh. "This can't be good."

Whitney smacked me on the back of the head to wake me up. We all quickly dressed and then made our way to the parade field.

"Well at least the other teams will be there so I can rub it in their face that we kicked ass," I joked.

"No, they just went through hell," Ben said. I cast him a weird glance. "And you want to brag about it."

I nodded. "No," he ordered.

When we arrived the other teams were already there, and were standing at attention. El Tee noticed us and signaled for us to come to the front. She linked her COM unit to the base PA system, so she could be louder than normal.

"What you did out there was nothing short of a total goat fuck. These five recruits," she pointed to us. "Massacred two hundred and eleven of you in two hours and during those two hours you lost any form of teamwork."

She glared at the recruits for several seconds. "And as a reward you get to run ten miles, while Team Lance gets to stay here and relax."

I looked at the rest of my team. We nodded to each other and then I stepped forward. "Ma'am," I asked. "Permission to speak freely?"

She nodded to me.

"Ma'am we're a family," I continued. "And as a family we share everything, even punishment. So instead of staying here, we request permission to go for the ten mile run."

"Are you sure," she asked. "I want to hear it from all of you."

We answered in unison. "Yes ma'am!"

A smile played across El Tee's face. "Ok then, let's go for a little run."


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6 One hell of a bite

28 January 2553 Military Calendar

The process of transforming from a child to a Spartan super soldier had been, painful. Me and the three hundred and seventy remaining recruits had been told about the risk, shown videos, but none of us had backed out. But the process had killed or mangled thirty three of the recruits.

_No it had taken away my brethren._

But the survivors were imbued with increased attributes like night vision, amplified hearing, augmented strength, and several others.

Black banisters were draped over the high rises. I and the rest of Team Lance stood at the front of the burial detail. I stood at the front, along with the rest of Team Lance.

"Present arms," Ben ordered. Three hundred and thirty seven Spartans snapped a salute as the bodies of their brethren were jettisoned into space. Ben read a prayer from the bible.

_Praying won't help them now_

"Order arms," Ben ordered. "Burial detail dismissed."

The El Tee had been watching the proceedings from the side. As my fellow Spartans fell out around me she motioned for me to come over to her. I turned to look at Whitney. Even though the features on her face were calm I could see the turmoil in her eyes. I moved in to hug her, but stopped short as I remembered the El Tee was watching. I decided a pat on the back would have to settle for now. I walked over to the El Tee's position and snapped a crisp salute. She returned it.

"How is she holding up," El Tee asked.

I glanced over my shoulder to look at Whitney. She was staring out into the cold blackness of space. "Michael-L378 was her brother and her last living family member. He died during the augmentation," I answered. "She's shook up, but give her time and she will be fine."

The El Tee put her hands on my shoulders. "Dante you aren't the best at following orders," she said. "But please follow the one I'm about to give you. Love her. Be there when she needs a shoulder to cry on, when she's angry, or when she just needs someone to listen to."

My jaw slacked. "Are you saying that you knew about the two of us?"

She let out a weary sigh. "Let's face it Dante, you and her are always together, and always looking at each other with that glimmer in your eyes," she said blatantly. "The only reason I didn't deal any punishment is because you remind me of someone, from my past. Which reminds me, have the two of you done anything?"

I could feel my face warm and turn redder. "No ma'am," I answered truthfully. "We haven't done it yet."

"Good save it till after the war," she said. "Anyways the reason I called you over here, was because I wanted to have this."

She held out a small box. I grasped it with both hands and looked at her in amazement.

_Holy shit this is the nicest you've been to me…. Ever._

I slowly opened the box. Inside were two familiar curved blades.

"The first day you arrived at my feet, the DI confiscated those. I believe you sent four DI to the infirmary before they managed to take them from you," she said. I continued to stare at the blades. "I am now returning them to their rightful owners."

"These were my father's Ulaks," I explained. "He gave them to me; moments before the overcrowded shuttle I was on left him to be glassed on Charon."

I met the El Tee's gaze. "Thank you," I said. "For everything, it has been an honor to be trained by you."

"The honor has been mine Dante," she said. "You are the finest Spartan I have ever met."

She held out a hand. I hesitantly shook it. I had a new found respect for her.

"Get everyone back onboard the Point of No Return," she ordered. "The official graduation can take place at home."

"They're ready to go," I said.

We saluted. I turned and made my way back to my team. I spun one of my new blades in my right hand.

"Look at what I got," I bragged.

Rex stared at the blade. "Where did that come from," his curiosity peaked.

I stopped spinning the blade and pulled my hand back. A second later Rex's hand swiped the air my hand had been.

"I'll tell you later," I said. "Right now we've got to get everyone back on the Point of No Return for transfer back to base."

Whitney had managed to stop crying by the time we made it back to our room. The point of No Return had entered slip space for its week long journey back to the bog. We sat across from each other in total silence.

_Why do I always have to break the silence?_

"How are you holding up," I asked.

She had her head down on the table, so her voice was slightly muffled. "I'm fine," she whispered.

I didn't believe her. "Are you sure?"

She looked up. "I said that I was fine," she said again.

She rose from her chair and began to move for the door. I stepped in front of her. I locked eyes with her for what felt like an eternity. Next thing I knew she had her arms around my waist and was crying into my shoulder. I brought my arms up and pulled her in closer.

"It's going to be alright," I said. "We'll make it through this together."

After several minutes, she stopped crying to look into my eyes. I was never keen of her signs and probably missed several chances at anything. This time it was as clear as ever. I moved in and met her halfway. We had kissed before, but never as passionately as this. After a minute she pulled away.

_Did I so something wrong?_

She began to take my shirt off. A new emotion flared to life inside me and demanded to be unleashed. I lifted her and then put her on the table. Whitney nodded approvingly and began to undress. I raced to catch up.

We stared at each other. Whitney was always beautiful, but now she was a goddess to me. She took the lead and pulled me closer.

_So much for waiting till after the war, he he._

Time became a blur for me.

Authors Note: Sorry it took so long. I've been playing Mass Effect 2 and started a story or two because of how much I liked it. I'll be posting a ME2 story soon and more chapters for this sometime this week. Until then please R&R. Semper Fi ! Keep the Faith and Peace


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7 Unexpected Events

20 January, 2553 Military Calendar

On board the UNSC prowler Siege Breaker

Dante-L382

My boots snapped together, along with the other 40 Spartan-III's that were present in the prowler's hangar bay. Colonel John Zakaev had entered the room and made his way to a raised platform in front of our formation. We snapped a crisp salute and he returned it.

"At ease Spartans," he ordered. I placed my hands behind my ramrod straight back. I had never seen colonel Zakaev before today. The man had plasma burns and scars almost everywhere his flesh was exposed. "Well let's get this briefing underway," the colonel sighed. "We are en route to this little jewel on the rim of what used to be the outer colonies."

A holo projector behind the colonel came to life and displayed a green and blue ball and some of its surrounding moons. The planet reminded me of the human home world of Earth. "This is the planet Insigna, an Earth size planet with several moons that has several tons of uranium under the surface," Zakaev continued. "Insigna has refined the nuclear material and built up a stockpile in the past few months, until a recent discovery on the fifth moon Lipus drew the attention of the Covenant's attention."

The colonel looked nervous when he mentioned a discovery and that worried me, but I didn't show it. The picture of the planet changed to an overview of a large city.

"There is a battalion of marines in the capital city of Haven. Spartan's your mission is to link up with those marines, reinforce them, and then push north to the nuclear stockpiles. Any questions so far?"

_Hell yeah there are questions._

I raised my hand. The colonel acknowledged me with a slight nod. "Sir what condition are the marines in," I asked. "How do we know they haven't been routed or driven out of the city by hostile forces?"

Zakaev scratched his chin before speaking. "All very good questions Spartan," he said. "The truth is, I don't know. We lost contact with them two days ago. And the last bit of video we got was this."

He tapped a command into a data tab.

A video feed replaced the picture of Haven city. The video was from the helmet camera of a marine Sergeant Major Daniel Muller on the front lines. Muller downed a carbine wielding elite with his assault rifle. The rifle clicked empty, and he ducked down to reload. Muller had just finished inserting a new magazine when an explosion erupted behind him and propelled him forward.

Muller remained motionless for several seconds before someone off screen hauled him up. "Sir Command has ordered a full retreat," the second marine said.

Muller dusted himself off and retrieved his assault rifle. "Thanks Kovac," Muller said.

Colonel Zakaev skipped the video ahead several minutes. When the video played at normal speed again the Sergeant Major had joined up with two more marines. Their IFF tags identified them as Lance Corporal Rias and Private First Class Alyssa. The whine of covenant air support filled the air and Muller constantly scanned the air for banshees. After another minute a banshee finally decided to strafe his squad with its plasma cannons. Muller dived out of the way just in time.

"Is everyone ok," Muller asked. Before anyone could answer, Zakaev skipped ahead.

The video resumed. Muller had called his team to a halt so he could consult his TACMAP. "We should be five blocks from our fall back point," Muller whispered.

Kovac was crouched down beside him. "Then we should be home free."

Muller shook his head. "Should is the key word in that sentence," he said. "I'm wondering where the covies are. It's been long enough for them to catch up, at least their recon force. And yet we've seen and heard nothing."

"And it's got you worried," Kovac concluded.

"Damn straight it's got me worried," he answered immediately. "If we're going to make it then we have to stay sharp, and keep our heads on a swivel."

He glanced over his shoulder at the others. "That applies to everyone." Zakaev skipped ahead.

_Come on I want to watch it all_

Three ghosts had found and engaged the squad. Rias fired his jack hammer rocket launcher at two of the ghosts. The vehicles exploded into a bright fireball. The last ghost had boosted and slammed into Rias and Kovac before they had a chance to dive to the side. Muller watched as Kovac's body sailed though the air and landed several feet away from him. He ran over to the fallen marine and rolled him over. Kovac didn't look too good.

"Tell my kids," Kovac coughed up a lot of blood. "Tell my kids, that daddy loves them."

Muller shook his head. "Don't say that," he pleaded. "It's only a little internal bleeding. You can make it to a medic."

Kovac managed to crack a smile. "See you in hell Dan." Kovac closed his eyes.

"Zach don't die on me," Muller knew it was no use. He bowed his head to say a prayer, and cry. A minute passed before Muller moved. He pulled the bolt on his assault rifle and ejected a round from the magazine. He placed it in Kovac's hand, before standing. "Good bye old friend," he whispered.

Zakaev skipped ahead. Now two jackals had their back to Muller.

_Sucks to be them_

Muller charged forward, assault rifle firing on full auto. One jackal danced as the rounds struck it in the back. The second whipped around to face its attacker, it fired its beam rifle and scored a glancing blow to Muller's mid section. Again Muller's assault rifle clicked empty. He lowered a shoulder and slammed into the jackal. The jackal dropped its weapon and began to furiously swipe at him with its claws. Muller reached down, un holstered his M6D magnum, placed it under the jackals chin and fired. Purple blood and brains covered the wall next to him.

An Elite rounded the corner down the street from Muller's position. He brought his pistol up and fired at the elite. Its shields drained and dropped as Muller's pistol clicked empty.

_Damn you had a good run Muller._

Pfc Alyssa surged forward, hitting the unshielded elite with assault rifle fire. The split jawed alien danced and then dropped.

Zakaev killed the feed. "You know as much as I know," he said. "You have one hour to prepare before inserting via pelican. I'll update you about the discovery on the moons. Spartans fall out."

I did an about face. A squad of four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers was gathered around a work bench; all of them but one was in pt gear. The only one in full combat gear motioned for me to come over.

The helmeted ODST examined my ghostly white face.

"Three words kid," he said. "Get a tan."

I knew about the hatred that ODST had towards Spartans, I decided not to give them a reason to hate me even more. I examined each one of them. All of them had red eyes, just like me. I looked at the armored one last. His armor was camouflaged to match a forest setting.

"Are all of you from Charon," I asked.

They nodded and pulled out curved, black blades similar to mine.

"Yes we are and I'm going to assume you are too," the helmeted one said. I nodded "And you look old enough to receive the marks, so why don't you?"

I tried to recall from my memories of home what he meant by "the marks". That's when I noticed the lines that had been carved into each of their faces.

"It's supposed to be all ceremonial but we don't have time for that," the girl stated. She nodded and the two ODST beside her moved to grab my arms. I shrugged them off. "Trust me kid, it's for your own safety."

I sighed. She pointed at the work bench. "Lie down."

I reluctantly followed her orders and hopped onto the bench. The two ODST restrained me. The helmeted ODST held my head with both of his hands. The girl climbed on top of the bench right beside me, her two ulaks in one hand and a plasma torch in the other. She began to heat the tips.

_Not looking good for me_

She looked at my worried expression. She grinned. "Don't worry kid," she joked. "I did this to Frost over there, and he survived."

"Barely," the helmeted Frost chuckled.

She glared at Frost. He held up his hands in a mock surrender. "This is going to hurt," she told me.

I laughed. "No shit it's going to hurt."

She slowly lowered the tips of the blade towards my face until they broke the surface. I winced in pain as she traced lines starting at my tear ducts, curving down to my mouth, and ending in a point on my right cheek. When she had finished she spoke again, "You are now a reaper of Charon. Continue the traditions of death dealing that are people were famous for."

I sat up on the work bench. The entire right side of my face burned with pain.

"You did good kid," Frost patted me on the back. "You did better than Sanchez over there. He screamed like a girl the whole time."

I looked at the hispanic ODST, he retracted his middle finger. "I have to get ready for the mission," I said. I hopped off the bench.

Frost nodded. "Good luck kid," he said. He held out a hand. I grasped it.

I turned to walk away and made it to the elevator, before I turned and yelled across the small hangar. "What's the name of your unit?"

Frost looked over at me. "We're the Red Reapers of the 113th ODST battalion," pride filled his voice.

I grinned. "Well if your ass ever needs saving, then ask for Cerberus. And I'll come save you from hell."

Frost's laughter echoed through the hangar. "Right kid," he joked.

The elevator doors closed and I descended to the makeshift Spartan barracks.

_This is going to be fun to explain to Whitney and the others._


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8 Baptism by plasma

20 January, 2553 Military Calendar

UNSC prowler Siege Breaker Spartan barracks

Dante-L382

Whitney sat across from me on her bed. She continued to stare at my new marks. She shook her head.

"Why," she asked for the umpteenth time.

I finished pulling my right boot on before answering. "It's something that everyone on my home planet went through," I retold her. "I'm old enough to have them and just happened to be on the same ship as a squad of ODST from Charon."

I ran a hand across the lines. They had stopped burning with pain. "So I got them."

I placed my helmet on my head and waited for the hiss of it vacuum sealing to the rest of the armor to stop. Whitney did the same effectively ending the conversation, for now. We made our way to the elevator and after the short ascension, the hangar bay. The other thirty eight Spartans assigned to this mission were already there.

Weapon crates were open. Everything from assault rifles to shotguns were being passed out. I jogged from the elevator door to a crate marked battle rifles. I looked inside, only to find its contents missing. I walked to the crate next to it. This one was marked DMR or designated marksman rifle. I expected it to be empty as well.

I stuck a hand into the crate. "Jack pot," I exclaimed as my hand grasped the last DMR in the crate.

I pulled the bolt back and gave the rifle a quick check. Everything was in good condition and the DMR made a reassuring click when I placed it on the magnetic strip on my back. Next was ammo for the rifle. I found the ammunition crate nearby. I grabbed six magazines of the guns 7.62mm ammo. I inserted one, pulled the bolt, and heard the all too familiar sound of a round being cycled into the barrel.

My team was nearby. They stood around a black canister. As I neared them, Ben turned to face me.

"You just missed your ODST buddies," he said. "One of them told me to give this to you."

He held out a M6SD pistol. I took it and immediately noticed the difference in weight versus other pistols.

"Thanks," I said. Ben handed me several mags for the pistol. I looked down to examine the canister that my team was gathered around. "Is this thing for me," I asked.

Lisa nodded. "Yup a special delivery from the higher ups," she said. "ONI spooks dropped it off. Said you had the code to open it and advised that you use the contents wisely."

I knelt down next to the canister and then entered my password into its touch screen. The locks chirped as its security system accepted the code and unlocked it. I opened it and gasped at the contents.

My eyes examined the SRS 100-S1 AM prototype sniper rifle. An ONI spook had given me a file on the weapon and I had read it several times. The designer had nicknamed the gun Zeus, for severity of the flash and sound it made. For me to actually see the monster up close left me dumbfounded at its destructive potential.

The gun was a bull pup design meaning the magazine was located at the back; because of the design it was about the same length as the SRS 99. The key difference in the new rifle was in the ammunition. The SRS99 fires 14.5mm armor-piercing, fin stabilized discarding sabot rounds. The SRS100 on the other hand fires a monster 19.05mm round with the same characteristics. The effective range of an SRS100 was estimated to be at least two miles.

I picked up the rifle and ten of its five round magazines. The magazines were massive and barely fit on my slim physique. I grabbed the last mag from the crate and inserted it into the rifle. The bolt made a loud clack as one massive round was chambered. I whistled at the soothing sound.

Rex nudged Whitney with his elbow. "Hey looks like he's in love," Rex grinned.

I looked up from the rifle. Whitney shrugged. I glared at Rex.

"Calm down you two," Ben cut in before I had a chance to test the rifle on Rex. "Time to start this op."

Ten minutes later I was onboard a pelican drop ship as it descended down to the surface with the rest of my team. So far the ride had been made in total silence.

The pilot's voice filled my ears. "This is Zulu-62," the southern accented pilot said. "I'm inbound to landing zone with reinforcements."

I unclipped my harness and stood up. The others had joined me and were shouldering their weapons. Ben was about to hit the switch to lower the rear hatch when the pilot's voice cut in again.

"Hold on boys and girls," he advised. "I've got a banshee on my six."

Before I had a chance to react the drop ship shuddered, and then whipped around in what I assumed was a full 180 degrees. The sound of its 30mm chain guns reverberated through the hull, followed by a small explosion. The pilot hit the emergency hatch release. I didn't hesitate and jumped out of the pelican.

Glass cracked under my boots as I landed. I already had my DMR against my shoulder, scanning for targets. A roar to my right drew my attention. A brute was firing on the drop ship with its brute shot. The grenades missed their intended target. I put the crosshairs on its head and pulled the trigger. I put four of the DMR's twelve rounds into the big gorilla before it dropped.

"All teams sweep and clear," Ben ordered.

I acknowledged by giving him a green light. Whitney formed up in front of me, shotgun at the ready. She cast a glance over her shoulder at me. I nodded. We took off into the heart of the Covenant lines.

Whitney dashed forward to engage a dozen grunts. I hung back and looked through my scope for targets. I rested the crosshairs on an elite major clad in red armor. I emptied the rest of my magazine into it and the grunt behind it. I instinctively ejected the old mag and inserted a fresh one. I spotted another elite in red and opened fire. I had fired two rounds when an unfamiliar sound came from behind me. I dove to the left. An elite in gold armor swiped at the spot I had just occupied with an energy sword. It let out a disappointed roar.

The zealot charged. I fired once before it reached me, the round bounced off its shields. I side stepped its second attack, and unsheathed one of my ulaks at the same time. It swung again. I ducked under the attack, hooked the curved blade around its sword arm, and pulled up. The blade cut through the elites flesh with ease. The elite began to let out a scream. I brought my blade up and into its skull.

Plasma fire struck the dirt around me. I hefted the elites corpse and used it to shield me from my attackers. I fired blindly with my DMR, in the hopes of forcing them into cover. Sure enough the fire subsided. I threw the corpse to the side and sighted down my scope. Three jackal heads popped out from behind a pile of rubble. I dropped each of them with a head shot.

The sounds of battle began to die down. Whitney materialized beside me. She looked around at the corpses. She nodded approvingly. "You've been busy," she said.

I grabbed the handle of my knife and placed a boot on the dead elite. I pulled and the blade came out. I wiped the blood on one of my shoulder plates, "I got five."

She rested her shotgun on her shoulder. "I got fifteen," pride filled her voice.

Before I could call BS Ben cut in. "Three wraith tanks incoming," he stated. "Cerberus it's time to test your new toy."

"Roger, just give me a second," I replied.

Whitney switched her shotgun for her battle rifle. I found an old fire escape and climbed up two levels. I had a clear view of the area. Off in the distance the outlines of the wraith tanks were growing in size. I brought my sniper rifle up and looked though the scope. I went to 15x zoom. The lead wraiths brute gunner filled my scope. The brute looked close enough to reach out and punch it. I compensated for all the variables, waited for my heart to calm down, and then fired.

The rifle bucked hard against my shoulder. I watched as the gunner exploded into an unrecognizable red mist. The round slammed into the wraiths drivers' door with enough force to leave a large dent. I fired again. The blood from the driver erupted like a volcano from the impact of the round. I repeated the process with the other two wraiths.

Calm soon settled over the blood soaked, alien corpse ridden battlefield. I took my eye away from the sniper rifles scope to examine the weapon. I whistled.

"One thing is for sure," I stated. "I won't be running and gunning with this thing."

Whitney had been watching my six while I did my dirty work and simply grunted in approval.

"All Spartans meet me for debrief," Ben ordered.

"On our way," I answered. I tapped Whitney in the shoulder. She turned to face me. "I got three wraiths, so I win."

She shook her head before jumping off the fire escape.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9 Counter attack

22 January, 2553 Military Calendar

Location: Haven City, Planet Insigna

The last two days had been spent resupplying the marines on the ground with everything from ammo to bio foam. I broke open the last crate of ammo that had come from the destroyer Achilles shadow. The Achilles had arrived in system yesterday to drop off supplies, fresh recruits, and several tanks from the 129th armored battalion. I passed out the assault rifle ammo out to a group of privates.

The marines were now rested and had proper support behind them. They were pissed and ready for a little payback.

_Well payback can be a cold bitch_

After finishing with the ammo, I went searching for my team. I found them loading their gear into a warthog. I looked the hog over.

"There is no way all of us are going to fit in that thing," I said.

Ben finished securing his assault rifle behind the passenger seat in front of the gauss cannon before he said anything. "This is for the three of us," he informed me. "Rex is getting your ride."

Right on cue Rex drove up on a Mongoose ATV. I shook my head. "Fuck that," I exclaimed. "I would rather walk."

"What's got you so worried," Rex asked. "I'm a great wheelman and you know it."

I shook my head again. "You must've forgotten about the last time I was on the back of one of those while you drove," I said. "When you flipped it and broke a couple of my bones."

Rex let out a loud laugh. "You're making a big deal out of a broken pinky?"

"Plus a rib and two vertebrae," I corrected him. "There is no way in hell I am riding with you."

The other four members of my team looked at me with an evil grin.

An hour later I had my DMR in hand and was unfortunately on the back of a mongoose. Rex had the ATV going as fast as he could get it.

"Isn't this a little dangerous," I asked over the roar of the engine.

"I wish we could go faster," Rex replied. "Hey let me worry about the speed factor. You focus on shooting and keeping us alive."

He took a sharp right turn at break neck speed. The back end of the ATV swerved and then went up onto a curb. My left foot slipped.

_Son of a bitch_

Rex's laughter filled my ears. I was growing more annoyed by his continuing laughter. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and smacked him on the back of the head with my rifle.

"What was that for," he asked, sarcasm filled his voice.

I smacked him again. "Are you trying to get me killed jack ass," I growled.

Before he could voice his opinion, Whitney cut in, "Don't make me come up there and separate you two."

I couldn't hit Rex before he blurted out, "Your boyfriend is being mean to me. I think you should come up here and punish him."

I smacked him harder. He made a mock scream.

"Enough from both of you," Ben ordered. "This mission calls for radio silence. So shut the hell up."

The COMS quieted. Since Rex had been silenced, I decided to bring up the TACMAP. My IFF tag showed up right next to Rex's. I zoomed out. The IFF tags of all forty Spartans formed into a small pincer. I was at the front of the left pincer. The goal of this mission, a large cache of Shiva tactical nukes located to the north.

A bolt of plasma whipped past my head, bringing me back to the present. I found the shooter. A grunt was shooting a plasma pistol, but missing horribly.

_Good thing they can't shoot_

I put it down with one shot from my rifle. Several more grunts and two elites rounded the corner next to the grunt I had just killed. I put shots on the first elite. I scored a head shot as Rex and I flew past. I opened a channel to the other teams in the left pincer.

"Made contact with at least dozen grunts and an elite," I relayed the information. "Right side on the corner of 5th and Main."

A few seconds later the sound of team Viper's warthog chain gun came from behind me, followed by team Quake and the rest of my teams gauss cannons. Two hornets flew overhead.

"This is Zach," the leader of team Gyro broadcasted over the COMS. "I've got a multi-story building with a strong Covenant presence. Request permission to strafe them?"

"Permission granted," Ben answered. "Bring it down on them."

The hornets that carried teams Gyro and Elk rushed passed me. They opened fire on a skyscraper ahead of my position. The building shook and began to lean to one side because of the constant onslaught of 50 caliber and rockets. The building finally screeched and began to fall the moment I was underneath it.

"All teams we can't afford to be slowed down by this," Ben screamed. "Gun it, go go go!"

Rex floored it. The two of us easily made it to safety. I looked over my shoulder to see if everyone else was going to make it. Viper was right behind me. Quake and the rest of my team were still underneath the falling building. Large boulder sized chunks of perma-crete rained down around them.

"Hurry up," I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Whitney was at the wheel of my teams hog; she swerved to avoid another large boulder. "Dante I'm trying to dodge this shit," she screamed. "The last thing I need is you screaming in my ears!"

I wisely shut up.

Ben went prone in the back of the hog to minimize his chances of being hit by anything. The gunner of team Quakes hog wasn't so lucky. A football size piece of the building sailed through the air, and struck Blake-L007 in the faceplate. He crumpled to into the back of the warthog, a long sliver of perma-crete protruding from his helmet.

_Our first loss was from a damn building_

The tires of Lance's hog squealed as Whitney came out from under the building, followed immediately by Quake.

"All teams give me a sitrep," Ben ordered.

The teams slowly checked in. I looked at my TACMAP. Only two other fatalities had been sustained by another team. In my opinion the attack was going extremely well. The El Tee's words filled my mind, "If the attack is going well, then expect a shit storm."

"Dante I've lost contact with the marines," Ben said.

_Here comes the storm. _"Do you want me to go investigate," I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah and when you get there give me a sitrep on their health," he answered. "Rex drop Dante off somewhere. Then take Blake's spot on Quake's gun."

"Understood," Rex said.

Rex slowed to a stop at an alley. I jumped off of the mongoose. I wished the rest of my team good luck and then took off running to the east. The marines were six miles east, in the center of the pincer securing a supply line back to HQ.

I ran for what seemed like an eternity in total silence. I had made it two miles into my journey. The voice of Sergeant Major Muller slowly began to fill my ears, overwhelmed with static.

"Spartans this is Muller," he said. The constant drum of machine guns and explosions were drowning out his voice. "We ran into heavy… forces, request…. reinforcements immediately."

I tapped the side of my helmet, hoping to clear up some of the static. "Muller this is Spartan 382," I said. "Give me a sitrep on your situation."

"Hostile presence is massive," Muller's voice came in with significantly less static. "According to my map 382, you are a mile away from a Covenant artillery position that has been shelling us for an hour. Can you take it out?"

"Send me its coordinates and I'll take it down," I answered.

The Covenant artillery was a little over a mile away, on the roof of a five story building. I had made my way to the building and infiltrated it through a hole in the Covies defenses. I crept up the stairs to the roof. I put my hand on the doorknob.

_What the hell am I thinking?_

I retracted my hand, counted to three, and kicked in the door with my boot. The door exploded away from me. I examined the scene in front of me. Four artillery pieces, each manned by three grunts. A brute stood behind the grunts, monitoring the grunts work. They apparently hadn't heard me. I put my DMR away, unsheathed an Ulak, and pulled out my pistol. I crept behind the brute. I jumped onto its back and slit its throat while putting three rounds into its back. The brute fell to the ground with a loud thud. The grunts turned to look. I shot each of them in the head.

The last grunt jumped and took the round in the chest. It dropped to the floor. I walked over to its injured form. I put my boot on its skull and put pressure on it. The grunts head popped like a zit.

I opened a COM channel to Muller, "Sergeant Major the artillery has been neutralized."

"Roger," Muller answered.

Author's Note: Let me know what you think. The next chapter should be up in a few days. Please R&R


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